Bear Digest

Why Rome Odunze Rates Best Choice as Bears Breakout Player

The ninth player drafted overall this year needs to be taken as a serious Bears candidate to be a breakout player over many potential players for several reasons.

Gene Chamberlain

Rome Odunze impressed Bears coaches in the offseason with his ability to pick up the offense quickly and his work ethic.
Rome Odunze impressed Bears coaches in the offseason with his ability to pick up the offense quickly and his work ethic. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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The Bears have so many breakout player candidates, it's easy to forget some.

Sports Illustrated sought out each team's breakout candidate from On SI publishers and the choice here for the Bears was one some might find surprising because he's a rookie. It's wide receiver Rome Odunze.

This is not a popular choice with anyone in the analytics sector because of his rookie status, and because the Bears have so many second-year and third-year players who seemed to be on the brink of becoming much better players.

Guard Teven Jenkins is no breakout candidate, as his play over the last two years has been good enough to put him in the top 15 twice for Pro Football Focus grades at his position. He's already there. He just needs two things: Health and a contract.

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"Stay healthy," Jenkins said. "That's No. 1 and of the utmost importance for me right now."

Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright are nice thoughts for this, but Jones has played two seasons and has been in the top half of the league in PFF grade both times. Unless he suddenly becomes an All-Pro tackle, it's easy to consider him as someone who already arrived, too. At least he has arrived at the best of his abilities.

Wright would be the second-best choice for this. He very well could take the next step up to dominate at right tackle after a solid rookie year when he allowed seven sacks and committed 11 penalties. If he follows Jones' pattern, he'll drop that sack total almost in half and the penalties, too. That would be progress.

Defensively, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson all rate as possible breakout candidates, as does Gervon Dexter. The 33rd Team called Stevenson one of

 the league's top four breakout candidates on defense.

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Gordon is playing a difficult position at slot cornerback and it might always be a struggle there to stay ahead of the game. With Brisker, it would be a good year to take a major step up but he has allowed too many big plays to expect this. According to Sportradar's total of 10 TD passes given up in two seasons, it's too big of a leap to breakout player.

Stevenson would be the best choice on defense as he made huge strides down the stretch last year. Like with the Bears defense overall, there are questions about opponent quality. Aside from the way the Bears defense clamped down on Jared Goff twice, there were questionable teams and quarterbacks they beat.

Dexter is in a primary position to break out at 3-technique. It's a huge position for the Bears scheme. However, he has too far to go as a run stopper for this. And most defensive tackles who enjoy breakout seasons do it in the third year or even later.

Odunze is going to be in a position where he draws single coverage almost all year, unless teams decide they want to risk getting beat by DJ Moore, Keenan Allen or Cole Kmet.

As the third Bears option at wide receiver, he's going to be less likely to face the best or even second-best opposing cornerback.

Odunze is a wide receiver who is the complete package. He has sub-4.5 speed, great height at 6-foot-3, a knack for snaring 50-50 balls and winning any contested catch.

The receiver who fares best in a Shane Waldron scheme is one who can play every position and do everything. Odunze's mental approach to the game is such that it leaped out at Matt Eberflus.

"Rome really impressed us in terms of his ability to grab concepts and really execute out there for sure," Eberflus said.

The Bears no doubt would like for it to be Caleb Williams who breaks out as a rookie, but this happens so rarely with rookie passers. The odds of a C.J. Stroud occurring two straight years seems remote.

"I have all the confidence he's going to get it down quick," Jenkins said.

However, he added: "New offense, new playbook, new city; there's a lot going on for him right now."

Odunze is in good position to become an instant smash hit, though, and partly because of Williams.

Odunze's confidence will only grow with the early success he'll be able to achieve against single coverage from defenses worried about his more experienced teammates at receiver.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.